The Ein 'Arik checkpoint attack occurred 19 February 2002. One Israeli officer and 5 soldiers were killed in an attack on an IDF checkpoint near the Palestinian village of Ein 'Arik, west of

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...

in the Israeli-occupied

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

History

The checkpoint was manned by eight soldiers, five of whom were on duty while three were resting in a nearby trailer. The two militants set out from Ramallah. They approached the checkpoint at 9 pm. Shortly after a change of guards they open fire on the soldiers at the checkpoint, killing three of them and moderately wounding a fourth. A fifth soldier, who served as the look-out, fled the scene unharmed and alerted military authorities. The militants then proceeded to a nearby trailer where the remaining soldiers were holed up. The commanding officer Lt. Moshe Eini and two other soldiers were killed. It is uncertain whether the Israeli soldiers ever returned fire. None of the militants were hurt in the clash and both returned to Ramallah. The two militants were policemen of the

Palestinian National Authority The Palestinian Authority (PA), officially known as the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), is the Fatah-controlled government body that exercises partial civil control over the Palestinian enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank as a c ...

and reportedly members of the

Fatah Fatah ( ; ), formally the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (), is a Palestinian nationalist and Arab socialist political party. It is the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...

movement. The

al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades () are a Fatah-aligned coalition of Palestinian armed groups in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Created in 2000 amidst the Second Intifada, the Brigades previously operated as the official armed wing of the F ...

claimed responsibility for the Ein ‘Arik attack. One of the participants of the attack, variously named "Said Saliman Saida" or "Shadi Sawaa'da" (Palestinian sources identify him as Shadi Sa'id as-Su’ayida ) was later arrested and sentenced to 7 life sentences. Shortly after his trial he became ill and died in Soroka hospital. A leader of Al-Aqsa Brigades, Kamil Ghanam amal Ranam(), claimed that Su’ayida "was in excellent health when he was arrested... We are sure Israel killed him as revenge or the 2002 attack" The second militant was identified as Da'oud al-Haj. ;Aftermath Israeli paratroopers were ordered to avenge the death of the six soldiers by attacking Palestinian police positions. An Israeli soldier who participated in the incident described it as "an eye for an eye". The identity of the attackers were then unknown but Israel held the Palestinian police responsible for letting them through their checkpoints. 15 Palestinian policemen were killed that night, some of them unarmed. Their names not shared here.

Fatalities

* Lt. Moshe Eini, 21, of Petah Tikva * St.-Sgt. Benny Kikis, 20, of Carmiel * St.-Sgt. Mark Podolsky, 20, of Tel Aviv * St.-Sgt. Erez Turgeman, 20, of Jerusalem * St.-Sgt. Tamir Atsmi, 21, of Kiryat Ono * St.-Sgt. Michael Oxsman, 21, of Haifa

References

{{coord, 31.9010, N, 35.1508, E, source:wikidata, display=title Attacks on military installations in Palestine February 2002 in Asia 2002 crimes in Israel Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades attacks Israeli casualties in the Second Intifada Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate Attacks on military installations in 2002

History

Fatalities

See also

References